Vampires Do Not Play Nurse
by mynameisroar
Summary: Sookie is sick. Who better to play nurse than a thousand year old Viking?
1. Chapter 1

_Vampires Do Not Play Nurse_

A/N: I do not own anything having to do with the Southern Vampire Mystery novels. They are the sole property of Charlaine Harris. I am just a poor college student, don't hold it against me.

Assume through book 8 has happened. Enjoy.

I was two seconds away from slapping Andy Bellfleur or throwing up on him. Maybe just passing out would suffice.

I was feeling sick but I only had about an hour left of my shift and damn it, I needed all the hours I could get. There was no way I was going home early. Oh…

I ran to the bathroom in the back hallway, leaving a gaping Andy in the middle of his order, and promptly threw up the toast that I had, had for breakfast. After the nausea had passed, I walked on wobbly legs to the sink. My face had taken on an alarming green tinge and the purple bruising under my eyes had grown more pronounced. All in all, I wasn't going to be winning any beauty pageants.

I was splashing some water on my face when I heard Sam knocking on the door asking if I was alright. Sam Merlotte was my boss that sometimes changed into a Collie. He was a great boss and an even greater friend. I knew that he wouldn't think twice about sending me home early.

"I'm fine, Sam." I called. I wasn't sure that I meant it, but I was feeling a bit better now and I really needed the money. I had never gotten paid for my services in Rhodes and my nest egg was decimated by my property taxes, and maintenance on my lovely old farmhouse. Not that I didn't love my house, it's a family house that has been around for generations, I wouldn't trade it for anything, but it was insane how many things needed to be replaced. Just last week the washer _and _dryer decided they had enough of Amelia and me, and had died right on the spot.

I pulled myself out of my pity party long enough to push through the bathroom door and pad into the hallway. Sam eyed me with concern.

"You're lookin' a little green around the gills, chere. Maybe you should go home early tonight and get some rest." Sam oozed concern, but I was determined to finish out my shift.

"I'm fine, Sam. Just a little tired is all. I'll go home and take a nap as soon as my shift is over." I tried to sounds as cheerful as I could manage as I slapped on my crazy Sookie Stackhouse smile.

Sam looked me over, clearly disbelieving my new found cheer, "I'll call in Holly just in case, Sook. I know you want the hours, but you've been working double shifts almost every day and I think they're catchin' up to you. If you won't go home early, then at least take tomorrow off."

The way he said it clearly meant, 'If you don't go home now, I'm not letting you come in tomorrow.'

I sighed in resignation. I'd rather go home an hour early than miss an entire day.

"Okay Sam, call Holly. I'll take off when she can cover me." I gave him a little hug to show my gratitude. My brain had started pounding against my forehead during our conversation and the nauseous feeling was slowly returning.

I headed out to check on my tables. It was about 2 o'clock in the afternoon on a Monday. The lunch crowd had come and gone, so there were only two people in my section. Andy Bellfleur had apparently put in his order with Angie, the new waitress Sam had hired last week. She was a cute 20-something with short brown hair and bright green eyes. She was hard working and really sweet. She wasn't a loud broadcaster, but what I did (and didn't) hear made me like her more. She had left her abusive boyfriend in Mississippi a month ago and had taken this job in Bon Temps to save up enough money to go to night school. She thought I was a little odd but she liked me and hoped we could be friends. She sent a little smile my way to let me know she had taken care of Andy.

The only other person in my section was Hoyt. He was my brother's best friend and a very sweet guy. He idolized my brother but they were starting to drift apart now that Jason had married (and divorced) Crystal, and he was dating Holly.

I started over to his table but had to grab onto the bar as a wave of dizziness washed over me. Terry Bellfleur set down the glass he'd been polishing and limped around the bar to my side. He grabbed my arm and led me to a chair at a nearby table.

"You just sit here a minute and I'll bring you a glass of water." He said as he went back to the bar. Terry Bellfleur is Andy's cousin. He was a war veteran that had good days and bad days. Sometimes really bad days. When he was having a bad day it was hard for him to be around people (and probably in their best interest if he wasn't) but it was especially hard for me to be around him. It was hard to block out his flashbacks. More than anything, I wish that my gift could help ease the intensity of his memories. Terry was a good man that had never treated me like a freak. He understood what it was like to be on the outside of "normal".

"Here you go, Sookie." Terry said, startling me out of my reverie when he sat down a glass of ice water.

"Thanks, Terry." I mumbled, embarrassed.

"It's no problem. Sam just told me that you were going home early. Holly should be here soon, and Angie can cover for you until she gets here. So you go on home now, darlin'. Sam already said he wanted you to scoot." Huh. Sam had already come out here and talked to Terry and disappeared in the back and I hadn't even noticed. So much for being aware.

"You're right. Let me go tell Angie and then I'll get out of here."

"Do you need a ride? If you're not okay to drive now I can give you a ride home and come back before things start to pick up." Terry offered with absolute sincerity. I picked up from his thoughts that he was thinking I might fall asleep at the wheel. Been there done that. Thank you Fairy Godmother.

"I'll be fine, Terry. Thanks for the offer though." I told him as I stood up, trying to look well enough to get home in one piece. I think I succeeded in only trembling slightly, my legs felt like I had run a marathon, so that was unavoidable.

I gave him a smile before he walked back behind that bar and made my way over to Angie, who had watched the exchange with worry.

"I'm not feeling too well, Ange, so I'm going to be taking off a little early. Would you mind covering my tables until Holly gets in?" I could tell from her thoughts that she had no problem covering for me but I had to wait for her to confirm what I already knew.

"No problem, Sookie. I hope you feel better soon." She gave me a reassuring smile before scurrying over to Hoyt to see if he wanted a refill.

Well, now that, that was taken care of I was home free. I stumbled into the back hallway towards Sam's office. I let myself in, like I had done for the last five years. He was filling out order forms and lifted his head when I came in. I grabbed my purse from where I stashed it this morning and called over my shoulder as I was walking out, "See ya tomorrow Sam." He gave a "Bye, Sook. Call if you need anything." in return.

I slipped out the back door into the bright afternoon light and had to shut my eyes against the harsh glare. 'Okay, ow.' I thought as the pounding increased in my forehead. I staggered to my car thinking that I should have taken Terry up on that offer of a ride. Just as I reached my door, a now familiar popping sound signaled the arrival of my very own fairy godmother and cousin, Claudine.

Claudine was a fairy. From what I could understand about a world that guarded its secrets closely, Claudine wanted to become an angel, but had to be a 'fairy godmother' first. This was good with me. She had saved my life and been there for me on multiple occasions. In fact, she had saved me from falling asleep at the wheel at one point. Perhaps she was trying to circumvent that from happening again.

Claudine danced (she didn't seem to ever walk) over to me and gave me a hug and a kiss to the cheek.

"Hello, Fairy Godmother."

"Hello, Cousin." She returned cheerful. She pulled back from our hug and frowned. "You've lost weight, Sookie. And your coloring is off." She seemed to assess me from head to toe before stating, "Come on, I'm taking you home and tucking you in to bed. You could use the sleep."

I was starting to get tired of people telling me I was tired and needed to go to bed. "Yeah Yeah." I muttered ungraciously as I pulled out of her arms and went over to the passenger's seat. I slid in to the seat as Claudine was starting the car. She reached over me and fastened my seatbelt as I slipped into unconsciousness. My last thoughts were of a big strong blonde haired, blue eyed Viking that had been absent as of late, taking with him a piece of my heart. '_Stupid Viking_.'

A/N: Love it, hate it? Let me know. I'll probably update in a few days but I need some inspiration first. This was just the set up. Good Eric/Sookie on the horizon.


	2. Chapter 2

_Vampires Do Not Play Nurse_

A/N: Hey guys. Do to the overwhelming support that I got from all of you guys, I thought I'd get this chapter out faster than I originally intended. I'm very happy that I'm getting so much feedback and I just wanted to let you know that I really appreciate it. Thanks! As always, enjoy and let me know what you think.

I was roused back into consciousness when Claudine lifted me from my car. She was gentle and tried not to jostle me too much but I was still nauseous and that slight movement sent me into a round of dry heaves that left me gasping on my hands and knees in the front yard.

Claudine was stroking my back comfortingly when Amelia came bounding off the front porch. "Sookie, Oh crap, are you okay?" '_I was so worried. Claudine called and said you were sick. I'm making chicken noodle soup. It's easy to keep down when you're sick. I found the Saltine's which are really good with the soup and.._'

Amelia was a particularly loud broadcaster and right now her worried thoughts were slamming into my aching head with the force of a battering ram.

"Amelia" I croaked to my anxious friend as she hurried over to us, "you're thoughts are too much right now."

She froze in her tracks and her thoughts speed up as she tried to think of a way to make this easier for me. Her thoughts were starting to sear into my throbbing brain like a hot poker.

She seemed to figure out what was happening before she high tailed it back into the house. She came jogging back out with her keys clutched in her right hand, her left giving a short wave. She called over to my prone form, "I'm sorry, Sookie. I'm going over to Trey's. I'll call you later." She got into her car and speed off.

I didn't realize how tense I was until Amelia's thoughts stopped their assault on my head. I slumped over in relief and would have hit the ground if Claudine hadn't reaffirmed her presence by scooping me into her arms once again. This time I managed to keep the gagging to a minimum.

Claudine pushed open my front door and I was immediately confronted with the aroma of chicken noodle soup. Claudine marched me to my room and placed me on top of the covers. "Do you want to try to eat something or did you want to sleep?" Claudine asked me gently. My stomach, which seemed to have actually settled since heaving in my front yard, chose that moment to rumble loudly.

I checked the clock and noted that it was a little after 3 o'clock. I felt grimy and still had all the smells from the bar clinging to me. "I think that I'll take a quick shower, and then maybe try some of Amelia's soup." I answered. What I really wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep for the next week, but I would regret not showering and trying to keep something down before I went into my sick coma.

I stepped into the shower after Claudine disappeared downstairs. The hot water helped me loosen up my tense muscles and I started to feel a lot better. After I had finished washing all the grime off, I stepped out of the shower and toweled off. I went into my bedroom, and slipped into my pajamas, which consisted of black sweatpants and a Fangtasia t-shirt.

I returned to the bathroom to brush my hair and put some lotion on my face. I was still exhausted, but my headache and nausea seemed to have abated.

When I reemerged from the bathroom Claudine was waiting for me with a big bowl of chicken noodle soup. I sat cross-legged on my bed and managed to eat about half of it before I was sated.

Claudine seemed pleased with my recovery.

"I'm feeling much better, Claudine. I'm just tired now. A little sleep and I'll be right as rain by tomorrow." I predicted as I snuggled under the covers. "There's no reason for you stay with me when all I'm going to be doing is sleeping."

"I think I should stay with you." Claudine hesitated slightly before continuing, "Human illness can be unpredictable."

"Claudine, I'm fine now, really." I counter stubbornly. I didn't want her to waste her time watching me sleep when she probably had a million other things to be doing. "I don't want to keep you from whatever you were doing before I got sick. I'll be fine here."

She looked less than assured. "I wasn't doing anything of importance before you needed me, Cousin. Your health is important. Besides, I have a new book I wanted to read and this is the perfect opportunity."

She punctuated that statement by pulling a book out of her purse with a flourish. Everything was starting to take on a hazy quality, so I just let the issue lie.

Claudine pulled my draped shut, effectively shutting out the late afternoon sun, as I buried myself under my covers. I heard the sounds of someone settling into my old rocking chair and paging through a book. Then I drifted off to sleep.

¸,ø ¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ ø,¸¸,ø ¤º°°º¤ø,¸

I was disoriented when I next regained consciousness. Where was I? And why was I burning? It was like someone had left me in a car on a hot august day with all the windows rolled up.

My breath was escaping me in short pants as I struggled to escape the material that bound me. As I was struggling, I slowly started to gather my bearings. I was in my bed, wrapped in my Gran's old quilt, I realized suddenly.

I stopped my frantic clawing and tried to reason through the haze that was rapidly consuming me. I wiggled out the top of my self made cocoon and was able to breathe sweet, cool air.

The haze that only a moment before was almost all encompassing, seemed to recede with each cleansing inhalation I took.

I untangled my legs from the quilt and threw it off as violently as my weak muscles would allow. The quilt fell to the floor in a heap.

With my mission completed, I finally took a moment to look around the room. Claudine was eyeing me from her position in the doorway. She had my house phone in one hand and there was apparently someone on the other end of the line because when she had finished confirming that I was in no immediate danger from my now innocent looking blanket, she brought the phone up to her ear.

"No, no. There's no problem…It just seems like she got a little hot…I told you she was running a temperature, that's what happens when-…I'm watching out for her and I-…now wait just a minute!…"

Claudine's conversation was fading into the background as she huffed down the hallway towards the living room. I was still burning from the inside out when she returned a minute later, her beautiful face darkened by whoever was on the other end of that conversation.

She ,however, did not return empty handed. In one hand she had a wash cloth and in the other she had a bowl of what I hoped was ice water.

A second later I wasn't disappointed when she put the cold cloth to my forehead. A pleasant shiver ran down my spine and I was relieved when the burning seemed to lessen considerably.

I don't know when my eyes had closed, but I had to crack them open again to peer up at Claudine. "Who was that?" I croaked and then opened my eyes wider in surprise. When has my voice gotten so gravelly? I sounded awful.

Claudine removed the now lukewarm cloth from my forehead, and swirled it around the bowl. She dabbed the cold cloth to my neck, and then ran it down my exposed arms. She dunked it back in the bowl, rang it out and reapplied it to my forehead before answering.

"That was Pam. Eric felt that something was off through the bond, so Pam was calling to find out what was happening."

Ouch. He couldn't call me himself.

With my temperature starting to cool, I could better appreciate the hot stirrings of anger that bubbled up within me. Was I so unimportant that he couldn't call me directly to ask me how I was doing? A text message, perhaps? I know that he was busy dealing with Sophie-Anne's final death and the changes from the takeover, but two months was a long time to mere mortals.

Just as the anger started, I deflated. It was Eric. Vampire politics personified. This wasn't something unexpected, but I couldn't help the stab of hurt that broke through and skewered my heart. I had hoped now that he remembered our time together, things would be different. But more than that, I missed him. _I missed you._

I broke out of my melancholy thoughts with a sigh. My temperature had gone down and I no longer felt like I was melting from the inside. Claudine removed the cloth from my forehead and took it and the bowl to the kitchen.

When she returned, she looked troubled.

"What's wrong?" I asked, not sure what to expect. It never bodes well when your fairy godmother looks worried.

"Pam is waiting outside. It seems that Eric was not satisfied with the information I gave her." I looked at the clock and was surprised that it was 8 o'clock. I guess I had been lost in my thoughts longer than I realized.

Claudine seemed annoyed, now. I understood quickly that Claudine could not be here when Pam came in. Fairies are vampire heroin, the smell of them drives vampires crazy with blood lust. And since I liked my cousin alive, she would have to leave while there was a vamp present.

Claudine was hovering in the doorway. I realized belatedly that she was waiting for my opinion on the matter. I was feeling bad that she had already stayed to watch over me as long as she had, so I told her that I would be fine and thanked her for staying with me.

I didn't want to tell her that I was starting to feel cold and nauseous because she would have insisted on staying and I had already taken so much of her time. I managed to give her what I hoped was a reassuring smile, but it could have just as easily been a grimace.

She gave me a small wink (no hug because that would have just been adding fuel to the fire) but I could see that she was reluctant to leave. With one last look, she popped out of my bedroom.

Although I had never rescinded Pam's invitation into my home, Gran would have rolled in her grave if I didn't go let Pam in myself, like southern manners demanded.

So with that in mind, I sat up with some effort and moved my legs feebly over the side of my bed. I stood up but a sudden cramp in my stomach had me bending over at the waist. I gritted my teeth, frustrated at my unpredictable illness, as I shuffled towards the front of my house.

I made it to the door and swung it open, only to have darkness and an empty porch greet me. I looked from side to side, squinting into the shadows but I didn't see Pam anywhere. When I turned around to check the clock, I withdrew violently to see Pam sitting calmly behind me. The violent movement had me running on shaky legs to the kitchen sink and throwing up my chicken noodle soup.

After I was sure I would not be sick again, I used my unsteady hands to turn on the water to rinse out the sink and splashed some water on my face. When I turned back around, I was surprised to see Pam had moved into my kitchen doorway, a look of distaste on her face.

"Well Sookie, it's good to see you again, as well."

'_That Pam_' I thought, a moment before my eyes rolled to the back of my head and the floor rushed up to greet me.

A/N: Okay, before anyone gets upset at the absence of a beloved 6'4 hunk of Viking, he will be coming. I don't do outlines, so when I write I just kind of let the characters go where they want to. But this is an Eric/Sookie story, so don't starts sharpening your pitchforks just yet. Oh, and I apologize for any mistakes I haven't caught. I don't have a beta and since I've gotten these two chapters out same day, I haven't had much of a chance to edit.


End file.
